Holy macaroni, what a day! I am so happy to have retained my 50K title! While my time was waaaaayyyyy off what I was hoping to do, there were a few things that went very, very well that I am incredibly happy about. I made the whole race without a single warning or caution! I've been working really hard the last few years on my technique after my DQ at the Olympic Trials in 2012 and I believe it is really paying off. My race bib was #20. As you can tell from the (very busy) board, my number isn't on it!
Another thing I am totally thrilled about is my glute strength. For years I have had a muscle imbalance between my glutes. My right glute medius did not want to fire like the left side. I was officially half a lazy ass!!! This would cause my hip to collapse, putting strain on my hips. This would cause me to go out of adjustment fairly often, and sometimes at very inopportune times, such as right before a race. I kept trying to work on my glute strength, but it's hard to get a muscle that isn't used to firing to fire, especially when there are so many muscles around it to easily take over. So it wasn't just a matter of me trying harder, that I was definitely doing. But two things have really turned them around. First, when Quentin Rew from New Zealand came to visit he gave me some core exercises to work on. I had been doing core work, but nothing like this. Compared to what I had been doing it was "easy" but really hard at the same time. After a few months I saw a huge improvement in my core strength which equaled fewer trips to the chiropractor. But the second thing was a very interesting find.
When Dave and I went to the Huntsman Senior World Games they had a big expo. I wandered around it a few times looking at all the cool stuff. One of the booths had this funky machine that people were standing on and wiggling all over. I was curious so went over for the talk and gave it a try. The idea behind, in very simple terms, is the platform vibrates your body and muscles are forced to involuntarily activate. This makes them work. I noticed on my first time on the platform that I could feel one area of my right butt jiggle differently than the left. It was my lazy glute muscle! I couldn't believe I could actually feel it! I went out for a workout after being on the platform and went significantly faster than I thought I would, and could feel my glutes a lot more powerful than I usually did. I got a bit excited.
I went back and talked to the owners of the platform and they agreed to help me out. They're so amazingly awesome, so I now have my very own platform. I use it twice a day for 10 minutes, generally watching TV. I don't feel that one muscle in my glutes anymore giggling differently and I feel so much more stable and powerful in my core. It's a amazing! If anyone wants to know more about the platform here's the website. I'm happy to answer questions, and I'll keep everyone updated on how it's helping me continue my preparation.
http://relaxhealthandtone.com/
So that's all the good, now to the "needs improvement" section of the race.
Leading up to the race I kept checking the weather forecast and it kept going up and up so I knew it was going to be hot. Whenever I cross train inside, for example on the elliptical, I will go to our exercise room and crank up the gas heater full blast and get the heat up to about 85 and humid. So I thought I'd be decently well ready for the heat. It worked well for me in 2013 in Florida. There I was slower than I was in shape for, but stayed pretty strong. Not this year. I was decent through 20K, the next 10K was okay, and the last 20K was just finishing. Very seldom have I felt that hot. One thing I think helped in Florida was there were more water station, and you could get personal aid on both sides of the course so you could drink about 3 times as often. Florida also had an extra water station and an angel with sponges soaked in ice water. I've decided that I like sponges way more than towels. I felt like I couldn't get enough water wrung out on me with the towels, and they were too small to wrap around my neck without falling off.
But I think I just was not in the shape I needed to be. I also was not as dogmatic and structured about my race aid as I usually am. Luckily there's almost 13 weeks between now and my next 50K race. I'm going to spend 2 weeks with Ian Whatley in South Carolina and 6 weeks in St. George, Utah so I'll have plenty of quality, uninterrupted, and hopefully snow free training weeks. I'm focusing on my strength, both RWing strength as well as muscular strength. I'm going to really focus on the cross fit classes. So I'll take a few days easy, let the massive chaffing heal a bit, and get ready for the next one! I feel like I have to redeem myself after that poor showing. I have to stay focused and on my game. No slacking off, no making excuses, no wimping out. And with that thought in mind I think I'll go do some core work!
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